Christian persecution continues to rage across the globe, with believers facing killings, kidnappings, chaos, and crises at the hands of governments, extremists, and even family members.Among the persecution trends unfolding today, Open Doors, an organization monitoring Christian persecution worldwide, warns that “Sub-Saharan Africa faces catastrophic collapse” as Islamist violence breaks out in the region.
The organization’s 2023 World Watch List, which ranks the 50 nations where persecution is worst, warns of the “horrifying growth” of these terrors.
North Korean horrors
As it has for many years in the past, the report ranked North Korea as the most sinister place for Christians. The nation’s newfound “anti-reactionary thought law” reportedly cracks down on any foreign materials, putting residents in danger for simply possessing or sharing outside content.
One report indicates three minors were executed for sharing South Korean TV shows, offering a lens into the diabolical nature of these regulations.
“North Korea returns to No. 1, with its highest levels of persecution ever,” Open Doors said in a press release. “Over the 30 years of the Open Doors World Watch List reporting, the global phenomenon of Christian persecution has grown alarmingly.”
Lisa Pearce, the interim CEO of Open Doors’ U.S. office, reflected on the dire nature of these findings. In an interview with CBN’s Faithwire, she stressed the importance of Christians knowing and understanding the full scope of global persecution, citing biblical commands for believers to offer love, support, and prayer for one another.
“Persecution has really practical consequences, so we need to get behind our brothers and sisters who are suffering because of their faith,” she said. “But there is something bigger, which is, as we’re told in 1 Corinthians 12, when one part of the body suffers, every part suffers with it.”
Pearce continued, “If we’re going to be serious about what it means to be part of the body of Christ … we have to know what is happening to our brothers and sisters.”
The worst persecutors
The 2023 report cataloged the worst nations for persecution, from most to least dangerous: North Korea, Somalia, Yemen, Eritrea, and Libya. One of the most surprising results in the 2023 report is Afghanistan’s absence from the top five most threatening locations.
With the rise of the Taliban, Afghanistan jumped to the top spot on last year’s World Watch List, knocking North Korea out of its longstanding position. It was the “biggest seismic shift” in decades, but this year, Afghanistan fell to the ninth spot on the list.
Pearce explained why Afghanistan’s rankings so dramatically changed, citing rapidly moving situations on the ground inside the beleaguered nation.
“Life is extremely difficult for Christians in Afghanistan — it has been for a number of years,” she said. “And for several years, North Korea was No. 1, but only just because the situation in both countries was desperate for Christians; it remains so.”
One of the factors that shot Afghanistan to the top of the list in the 2022 report was the rapid rise of the Taliban, with the extremist leaders ushering in radical policies that quickly overtook Afghans’ lives.
“We saw the Taliban come forward very quickly. They were very aggressive,” Pearce said. “Last year, we saw many Christians killed, many fled for their lives because they felt that was the only option, but those who weren’t killed and haven’t fled have been forced far deeper underground than they were before.”
Even if incidents of violence have decreased, it doesn’t mean the situation has become easier for these individuals, especially those forced to live in the shadows to avoid brutality.
The most alarming changes
The most alarming developments this year seem to be unfolding in Sub-Saharan Africa, where Islamic extremism is raging. Pearce said Open Doors has been monitoring the situation over the past few years.
“That region … is the standout finding of this year’s list,” she said. “It’s not a surprise to us. We’ve been seeing it coming for two or three years, but this year’s figures are stark if you look at the countries where there is most violence against Christians.”
The results are most undoubtedly sobering, to say the least, with Open Doors’ noting there is a “vast humanitarian catastrophe” in the region “as a wave of religiously motivated violence nurtured in Nigeria (7) has swept across the region, targeting Christian populations at an alarming rate in countries like Burkina Faso (23), Cameroon (45), Mali (17) and Niger (28).”
A statement on the data continues, “Signs of jihadist expansion are also clearly visible in Mozambique (32), Congo DR (37) and other countries.”
CBN’s Faithwire has been covering the dire state of affairs in Nigeria, with kidnappings, killings, and other acts of persecution dominating portions of the nation.
The crisis in Nigeria
“Religiously motivated killings in Nigeria have risen from 4,650 last year to 5,014,” according to Open Doors, with Islamic extremists seeking to push Sharia and Islamic law. “Hundreds of thousands more have been forced into internal displacement or have become refugees.”
With these findings in mind, Pearce encouraged Christians to pray for the afflicted — for them to feel the presence of God and to know “their suffering does not mean that they are forgotten by God.”